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General Specifications
Wingspan: 9.97 m (32 ft. 9 in.) Length: 8.85 m (29 ft.) Height: 2.50 m (8 ft. 2 in.) Weight: 2,380 kg. (5,250 lbs.) Engine: Daimler Benz DB605ASCM Horsepower: 2,000 hp. Guns: One 30 mm cannon and two 13 mm machine guns ___________________________________________________________
Though it was originally anticipated that production of Messerschmitt's venerable 109 would be phased out in favor of the later Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Germany's need for fighters was so great that the 109 was continually modified and improved to the limit of the airframe. The K, or Karl, represented the end of this development. By this stage of the war, the greatest need was for interceptors, bomber killers that had to operate at high altitude and speed to be successful against the pervasive Allied fighters swarming over the Continental airspace. The Karl fulfilled this requirement in spades, with a maximum speed of 451 m.p.h. while carrying a heavier 30 mm cannon and twin 13 mm machine guns as its deadly sting. An advanced model Daimler Benz DB605ASCM engine of 2,000 hp was shoe-horned into an airframe that was originally designed for an engine of only 600 hp. This necessitated a larger rudder, an altered engine cowling, and a longer prop spinner. Additionally, the designers finally responded to the pilots' complaints about the heavy canopy frames by installing the improved-vision "Galland" hood, enhancing a pilot's ability to look around during the frantic moments of an aerial battle.
While the new hood improved the pilots' viewpoint, nothing could help the cramped cockpit accommodations. (Kind historians have termed it a "glove-like fit," while more brutally honest ones have called it "coffin-like.") Despite this and the fact that on paper the Fw190 was a far better airplane, the majority of the Luftwaffe's top aces, including the world's Ace of Aces, Erich Hartmann (352 victories), flew and preferred the 109.
Unlike that of most Axis planes, the 109's story does not end with the end of World War II. Generalissimo Francisco Franco's government negotiated for the manufacturing rights to the Bf-109 G-2 in 1942. After the war, the 109's airframe was adapted to a number of different engines, culminating in the ironic union of the 109 airframe and the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine (fitted in the Spitfire and Mustang). This model, the HA-1109-M1L, or Buchon (Pigeon), was in production until 1956 and in service until the late 1960s.
Perhaps strangest of all, Czechoslovakia remanufactured 109 G airframes with the only engine available in quantity in the country, the Junkers Jumo 211F (used in the Ju-88), to create the Avia S 199. A number of these were sold to the Israeli government shortly after the formation of the state of Israel. The first Arab-Israeli conflict saw Israeli 109s opposing Egyptian Spitfires in a desert repeat of the Battle of Britain.
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